Twitter – A Teaching and Learning Tool I think I have found the perfect place to reflect on the way a network, and specifically how Twitter, can impact on what goes on in the classroom. No mains gas, no telephones, no mobile signal, no internet connection, no possible way to interact with my personal learning network (PLN). Tucked away in the Cornish countryside the location of the cottage we are staying in provokes vocabulary such as: isolated, severed, detached and remote. Twitter: a communication tool In my experience, and in the short time that I have used it, Twitter has grown quickly to play a major part in the way that I interact with fellow colleagues and professionals from around the world. This diagram is a simplistic representation of my network in terms of numbers. Unique communication Twitter is primarily a communication tool and has often been described as filling the gap between email and instant messaging (IM). Twitter communication can be in both of these two different camps. Manageable networks Creative Data
Quick Guide: How to Speak ‘Twitter’ Okay, let’s start at the very beginning for those shrewd late adopters who don’t use certain technology until it’s absolutely ridiculous not to. With twitter, we may have reached that point–that critical mass where you should at least get on board to fully understand what it is you’re rejecting. Twitter is a social media platform that allows you to connect with others. It has formal academic potential that we explored recently that make it a difficult tool to ignore for any progressive-minded educator. Like text messaging, you are limited to 140 characters in your messages. Why Tweet? Why would you want to “tweet” to the world? Twitter started out as a “microblog” service that allowed users to talk about ideas in (extraordinarily) brief terms. Yes, you can block people that follow you, but don’t be paranoid. So, follow interesting people and you’ll see their messages, called “tweets.” Now, there can be politics to twitter, but I won’t go into those. Right? ?
20 Twitter Hashtags Every Teacher Should Know About Twitter chats are such a great way to stay connected and informed in your professional circle , and education is no exception. Through education chats, you can find out about new methods for teaching, tech resources, even jobs for teachers. Most chats are held weekly, and offer an opportunity to have a regularly scheduled conversation with like-minded educators. Check out our collection to find a wealth of Twitter chats that are great for all kinds of educators. General These Twitter chats cover anything and everything in education, and represent a great jumping off point for those just getting started in Twitter education chats. #edchat – Talk to a variety of educators around the world through #edchat, Tuesdays at noon and 7 p.m. Administration and Behavior Check out these Twitter chats to get connected and discuss topics concerning school administrators. #AcAdv – Tuesdays from 8-9 p.m. Subject Chats
Integrating Backchanneling into Your Classroom | It's Time! In last week’s #BYOTchat, one of the topics that came up was the idea of “backchanneling.” What is backchanneling, you say? Well, that’s what I’m here to tell you! Simply put, backchanneling is the process of designating a medium for facilitating the conversation happening around a particular event. Whenever an event is taking place, there is a swirl of conversations occurring around that event. When entertaining the idea of establishing a backchannel in your classroom, the first thing you should realize is that the backchannel already exists; these conversations are already occurring, even if it’s merely inside someone’s head. The other great thing about backchanneling is that it gives students who may be less enthusiastic about sharing during class the freedom to express themselves without the fear that prevents them from raising their hand. The mediums suggested here have varying levels of privacy and control, so choose the one that suits your desires and objectives.
Educational Hash Tags #edude#eduFollowChallenge#edugreen #eduhashtag #eduit#edumindset#eduON (Ontario)#euduoz #edupd#edupreneur#edupunk #edutech #EduThingsILike#eduvc#eduvoxers #elemchat #elementary#elemsci #ell #ellchat#elrnchat #elt#eltchat#eltpics#emchat #emotionalliteracy#edpolitics #engagechat#engchat #engedu #EngineeringEducation#english #english-teacher#engsschat #enrichingkids#enviroed#e-safety#ESCchat#esdgc#esea#esl #esol#esp#ETAS#etcchat#etmchat#ettipad #e20#expandedlearning #family#fb4ed#FCE#FETC #FF#fft#filmclass#finnedchat#fitnessedu#flatclass #flatclassroom#FLE#flipchat #flipclass#flipped#flippedclassroomflippedlearning#flteach #followalibrarian #followfriday#fooded#foodtechteachers #formativeassessment#forteachers #frenchchat#frimm#FutureReady#FYCchat #health #healthed#hemkting#highered#higheredchat #highschool #highscope #hiphoped#histedchat#history#historyteacher#historyteaching#homeschool#homeschoolers#homeschooling #HourofCode #hs #hsc#hsmath#htagcommoncore
Why Twitter Is a Teacher's Best Tool - Education Teachers are increasingly bringing the real-time communication power of Twitter into the classroom to help students learn. But I've come to the conclusion that it's great for helping teachers learn as well. Twitter has simply become one of the best places for teachers to collaborate, share solutions to common classroom problems, and discuss education policy. In fact, it might just be the best forum teachers have ever had. As a classroom teacher I remember going across the hall to ask Mr. Educators can also use Twitter to keep up with education policy. Not all teachers have totally embraced Twitter. photo (cc) via Flickr user Creative Tools
How to Storify. Why to Storify. | Digital Pedagogy We’ve threatened to publish reviews and how-to-guides for digital tools since we started Hybrid Pedagogy, but we haven’t really gotten around to it. Every time we sit down to do this work, we get caught up in philosophizing about bigger issues related to educational technology — caught up in a desire to theorize the room before we fully enter the room. It’s important, though, for us to turn our minds (and typing fingers) toward both process and practice, hence our concordance of digital tools, and now this article about Storify. Intended to serve as a stop-motion camera for the torrent of information we get from social media, Storify allows the user to arrange pieces of conversations to construct a narrative. We begin, from the critical perspective that drives the mission of the journal, with the big questions: What is Storify? A metaphor might serve well here. How to get started: 1. Essential tips for using Storify: 1. The Pedagogy of Public Work: Is FERPA just a red herring?
The 2012 A-Z List Of Educational Twitter Hashtags We got so many additions and updates to our 2011 list we thought it was time to bring you the most up-to-date list for 2012. So, without further ado, here’s the 2012 A-Z list of educational Twitter hashtags. We went through all the comments on the 2011 version , wrote down all the Twitter and Facebook updates, and compiled this list over the course of several months. I’m sure we still missed some as new hashtags seemingly pop up every day. First, some background to get you up to speed on what the heck a hashtag is. First, What’s A Hashtag? Whether you’re a new or seasoned Twitter user, you likely come across confusing hashtags that probably look like a bunch of nonsense. The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keyword or topic in a Tweet. For example, the popular #edchat hashtag is used by thousands of users every Tuesday. How To Hide Your Hashtag Chat From Followers You don’t need to do this with all your chat tweets (though you could). Sources The Most Popular Hashtags Technology
10 Reasons for Education Professionals to Use Twitter Can a message of only 140 characters really affect change in the world? Twitter is doing just that one message at a time. Last week I met with a small group of teachers and administrators to show them some of the merits of using Twitter as an education professional. I have already read many blogs about the virtue of educators using Twitter, so my message is nothing new. It is simply my perspective that I share with anyone who would like to catch up on the meeting of last week. Here’s what I told the group: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. My final advice is to take it slowly but be persistent. 10. Here’s to meeting you online!
Using Twitter To Support Learning Social Networking | Viewpoint Using Twitter To Support Learning Twitter has become ubiquitous and many educators use it or a similar micro blogging technology to maintain connection with students in terms of announcements, information flow, and assignment updates. While some instructors have experienced success in community building and numerous articles detailing the more common uses of the platform are available online, a couple core questions have emerged. Can Twitter help support and facilitate the instructional process itself? Facilitating InstructionDirect and effective communication is crucial to good instruction, and Twitter can help provide that. As Chris Betcher, a teacher from Sydney wrote in his blog, we must "remember that Twitter is about 'small pieces loosely joined,' which is really how the world works in real life. Distributed DialogueThe main advantage of the technology is that true collaborative knowledge building can take place.
It's All About The Hashtag If you remember, in my 3 part series on Twitter, I wrote about how I completely changed the way I do professional development on Twitter. In a nutshell, I no longer start with signing up and tweeting the first day. I always show how to use Twitter without ever signing up. I believe it's important to establish the value in using it rather than using it and attempting to find the value. What a lot of people don't realize that Twitter is a very powerful search engine. What is a hashtag you ask? From The Twitter Fan Wiki: Hashtags are a community-driven convention for adding additional context and metadata to your tweets. Basically, its a tag in your post so that you or someone else can find it later or track it as it is happening. Right, but how does this help you find stuff for your classroom? Well, there are loads of great educational hashtags that have been created that you can search out and see what folks are posting. There are so many more educational hashtags out there.
Chirp app sends smartphone data via 'digital birdsong' 22 July 2012Last updated at 23:52 GMT Rory Cellan-Jones tries out the new chirping method of communication An app that transmits data via a burst of "digital birdsong" aims to simplify the way users share images and other files between smartphones. Chirp plays a two-second long noise that sounds as if it was made by a robotic bird. When heard by other devices it triggers a download. The software was developed by Animal Systems, a spin-off business from University College London (UCL). It is free to use, but companies will be charged a fee for add-on services. At the moment users are limited to sending pictures, website links or 140-character text messages. Other applications such as Android Beam, Bump, Datasync and Dropbox allow users to swap material via bluetooth, wi-fi or links to cloud-based storage. But Chirp has the advantage that it can quickly send data to multiple devices at once without them needing to be either paired or have a wireless connection. Continue reading the main story
How to Leverage Backchanneling & the Long Tail of Learning We’ve all been there. Two colleagues across the room tap away at their phones, while the principal describes the rationale for cutbacks in funding for new technology initiatives. (Or switch out the colleagues for students while you are delivering an essential lecture on freedom of speech.) At a conference, the speaker is riveting in his call for student empowerment through 21st-century learning. In an online synchronous webinar, Will Richardson shares his slides about the shifts in how we think about our privacy, our interactions with strangers on the Internet, and the powerful impact on education of some of the interactions we undertake every day. Should we teach students to backchannel effectively? The backchannel chat has become a fixture of our culture, like it or not. The second and third examples portray a way in which lectures can become interactive. How do we leverage the backchanneling students already do? I want to end with another story.
A Parent's Guide to Twitter and Education As an educator, there are tons of great hashtags available to find the resources I'm looking for. Hashtags are usually found at the end of a 140 character tweet. I think of them like television channels, only there are many more to choose from and you can even create your own for your organization or team. For parents on Twitter, there are hashtags that offer support in raising children and supporting the work of schools. Like other educational chats, #PTchat has a weekly time where educators come together to discuss a certain topic - Wednesday nights at 9pm (Eastern). The four "tweets" below were pulled from the #PTchat that took place back in February on the topic "When Parents & Teachers Disagree." You can see a question posed, followed by perspectives of parents and teachers. Last 5 #PTchats Archived Next Steps for Parents & Schools Using a public social media tool like Twitter, parents and teachers have the opportunity to collaborate transparently in the best interests of kids.